I've been in the book business as both and editor and publisher at an
independent press for nearly 20 years and a collector and trader in used,
rare and first/signed editions since I was a teenager in the 1950's... the
numbering systems have a lot of slop in them, including the Library of
Congress system....
for example I could bring out a book under my assigned ISBN and with a
Catalog in Publication number from LoC.... after a year or two I might sell
the title to another publisher who would re-cover it with different art and
in 5 3/8th inch X 8 1/2 inch at 228 pages vs my original which was done at 6
inches X 9 inches and 196 pages and both editions might carry my ISBN and
LoC numbers.... Or the new pub might add a foreword by a big name and then
give it his/her own ISBN and LoC...
the LoC number is different from a Lib of Cong Card Catalog number and early
ISBN had a different number of digits than those used today and next year
the new ISBN numbers will be different still... to further mess it up we
have to put bar codes on the back cover if we want to distribute through the
national wholesalers... some people use their ISBN and embed that in the bar
code while others will get a UPC and both print and embed that.... Some
small presses will use and ISBN and not use a LoC number or use a LoC number
and not use an ISBN... Some won't use either.
Since a title -e.g. War of The Worlds- can't be copyrighted, anyone can use
it so you could conceivably have ten/50/100 totally different contents under
that title, and if the author has a common surname...
See the confusions possible? That's why i think it's very important to have
pictures front and back..
"(ProteanThread)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:1106340207.f345c501c136d92136c8d644d5fd8ce1@teranews...
> Susan Bugher wrote:
> > Ibn Battuta wrote:
> >
> >> "hjmler" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in news:Wr5Id.973$(E-Mail Removed):
> >>
> >>
> >>> popular titles by popular authors - John LeCarre, Herman Wouk, Dan
> >>> Boorstin - have multiple editions under the same numbers, often
> >>> brought out years apart and sometimes by different publishers but
> >>> still with the same numbers....
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> I would still dispute this. The ISBN is assigned by the publisher,
> >> which has a unique identifier as part of the ISBN itself. The same
> >> title cannot come from two different publishers with the same number.
> >> And even if from the same publisher, if it is a different edition it
> >> will have a different number.
> >>
> >> This is a quote from the Bowker publisher's site:
> >>
> >> (quote) The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is a unique 10-
> >> digit number that identifies one title or edition of a title from one
> >> specific publisher and is unique to that edition. As the official ISBN
> >> Agency for the United States, Bowker is responsible for the assignment
> >> of the ISBN Publisher Prefix to those publishers with a residence or
> >> office in the U.S. who are publishing their titles within the U.S.
> >> (end quote)
> >>
> >> http://www.bowker.com/products/isbnagency.htm#isbn
> >>
> >>
> >> I'm not saying you shouldn't have a database for books that allow
> >> pictures, if that's what you want, but I'm sure the statement about
> >> ISBNs being the same for different editions is wrong.
> >
> >
> > He's *right*. Publishers sometimes reuse ISBNs for different editions
> > and/or different books (they have to buy their ISBNs from Bowker).
> > Furthermore the ISBN databases (Amazon et al) have lots and lots and
> > lots of errors. Bowker is spouting theory. The real world is a different
> > story.
> >
> > Susan
>
>
> true. after all (without bringing religion into the subject) look at
> the bible how many variations and versions there are but the same
> author(s) [SIC]